The Unites States Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew, officially announced on Wednesday that African-American anti-slavery crusader, Harriet Tubman will become the first woman on U.S currency, as she will replace Andrew Jackson, the nation's seventh president, on the $20 bill.
Tubman, who was born into slavery in the early part of the 19th century, escaped and then used the network of anti-slavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad to transport other slaves to freedom. After the Civil War, Tubman, who died in 1913, became active in the campaign for women's suffrage.
Last year, the treasury announced plans to replace Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first secretary of the treasury, on the $10 bill with a woman. But they have now decided to keep Hamilton after both Hamilton supporters and women's groups championed for the the $20 bill to be changed to incorporate a woman instead.
When it was announced last year that the treasury would be printing a woman on U.S. currency for the first time in history, a women's group called Women on 20s organized a survey to select an appropriate figure, and over the course of 10 weeks, the group collected 600,000 votes and Tubman came out on top.
Civil rights hero, Rosa Parks, former first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt and Wilma Mankiller - the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation, were among some of the other popular figures in the vote.
The last woman featured on U.S. paper money was Martha Washington, who was on a dollar silver certificate from 1891 to 1896. The only other woman ever featured on U.S. paper money was Pocahontas, from 1865 to 1869. Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea are on dollar coins.
